Envelope assembly

ABSTRACT

A manifold assembly comprising a plurality of series-connected envelopes, each having front and back panels with insert material within each envelope, means for securing the panels together to form an envelope pocket for the insert material, the insert material having marginal edges adjacent but unattached to the securing means, means for opening the envelope pocket and means connecting the insert material to an adjacent one of the panels so as to maintain the insert material in a desired registration position within the envelope pocket, the connecting means comprising an easily releasible adhesive and tabs formed in the one panel on which the adhesive is located so that, during extraction of the insert material as the envelope pocket is opened, the connection between the insert material and the one panel is gradually broken as the tabs are moved in the direction of insert material extraction.

[ July 16, 1974- ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY [75] Inventors: Emil A. DLuhy, Youngstown;

William R. Wakeman, Ransomville, both of NY.

[73] Assignee: Moore Business Forms, Inc.,

Niagara Falls, NY.

[22] Filed: Sept. 6, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 286,823

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,554,438 1/1971 Van Malderghem 229/69 3,554,447 1/1971 Sebring 229/69 3,587,844 6/1971 Wing 229/69 Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant Examiner--Stephen P. Garbe I Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Watson, Cole, Grindle & Watson I I I I r I 1 I I I I ll [57] ABSTRACT nanroia as's'emn cdhifiiiiiifi[Siflifitfit 555;; connected envelopes, each having front and back panels with insert material within each envelope, means for securing the panels together to form an envelope pocket for the insert material, the insert material having marginal edges adjacent but unattached to the se-f curing means, means for opening the envelope pocket and means connecting the insert material to an adja cent one of the panels so as to maintain the insert ma terial in a desired registration position within the envelope pocket, the connecting means comprising an eas-: ily releasible adhesive and tabs formed in the one panel on which the adhesive is located so that, during extraction of the insert material as the envelope pocket is opened, the connection between the insert material and the one panel is gradually broken as the: tabs are moved in the direction of insert material extraction. a

A 3 Claims, 5 Drawing gift; V

l ENVELOPE ASSEMBLY This invention relates generally to business forms and more particularly to a continuous manifolding assembly of a plurality of series-connected envelopes with insert material held in registration in each envelope by a connecting means which will avoid any tearing or delamination of the insert material when removed fro the evelope pocket.

In the prior art, series-connected envelope assemblies having front and back panels and secured along all sides to form a pocket forv insert material which is normally secured along one of its margins to the means forming the envelope 'pocket so as to properly register the insert material therewithin and prevent it from shifting while the assembly is being fed through the printer. As an alternative, such envelope assemblies have been formed by constructing the envelope pocket with securing means for the panels wherein the marginal edges of the insert material are closely adjacent but unattached to thissecuring means so that proper registration of the insert material is again assured. In such types of forms, a means for opening the pocket is provided in the form of a removable envelope margin which either breaks the tie between the insert material and the envelope or serves to open the envelope so that the tie for the insert material may be subsequently broken on the insert otherwise extracted. Limitations are, however, inherent in the use of such envelope assemblies from the standpoint of inefficiency and additional cost in production.

Also, a means for connecting the insert material directly to an adjacent envelope panel has been devised in-the past for maintaining the otherwise free insert material in registration within, the envelope pocket. However, should an adhesive be used as the connector, it has been found that either the insert sheet or the adjacent connected panel will be torn or delaminated as the connector is broken during extraction of the insert sheet material.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to insure against tearing or delaminating of either the insert sheet or its connected envelope panel by using an easily releasible adhesive located on tabs provided in the wall of the connected panel so that the connection may be gradually broken as the tabs are moved in the direction of insert material extraction.

Another object of this invention is to provide such an envelope assembly wherein each of these tabs is defined by a slit partially surrounding the adhesive located thereon with the slit o'peningtoward the direction I of insert material extraction.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an envelope assembly wherein several sheets may be provided as the insert material with one of the outermost sheets being connected in the above manner and the remaining sheet or sheets each being connected to its adjacent sheet with the use of an easily releasible adhesive thereby providing a-frangible tie between both theinsertmaterial and the envelope and between each sheet of the insert material.

Other objects. advantages and novel featuresof the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the ccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the manifolding assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a single envelope assembly separated along the transverse lines of weakening of the manifolding assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is'a sectional view of the envelope assembly taken along line 3 3 of FIG. 1 with the several plies shown separated and control punch margins omitted for the purposes of clarity;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an outer panel of the envelope taken along a line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectionalview similar to FIG. 3 except that the insert material is shown in the process of being ex tracted from the envelope pocket.

Turning now to the drawings wherein like reference characters refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several .views, the manifold assembly shown in FIG. 1 comprises a plurality of seriesconne'cted envelope assemblies 10, each interconnected along transverse lines of weakening 11 so that,

after the manifold assembly leaves the printer, each of bands maybe removed as in FIG. 3 before reaching the.

ultimate recipient. r

A single envelope assembly l0'as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as comprising a front panel 14 and a back panel 15 secured together in a suitable manner as by a strip of adhesive 16 along four-sides as shown most clearly in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a typical envelope assembly shown with each of its plies separated for purposes of clarity. A tear strip margin 17 is provided for opening the envelope pocket which is constituted by the stream paste lines 16. This tear margin is delim-' ited by a line of weakening 18 spacedslightly inwardly of tear line 13 at one side of the envelope assembly. Line 18 is formed in both the front and back panels and overlies a portion of insert material 19 located within the envelope pocket. A thumb notchfor tab 2l..is provided as in FIG. I so that, when grasped with one hand and with the other hand at the opposite end of envelope assembly 10, margin 17 is separated along lines.l8 and insert material is simultaneouslyremoved from the envelope pocket similar to the manner as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,554,438, dated Jan. 12, 1971 and commonly owned herewith.

Insert material 19. as shown in FIG. 3 includes insert sheets 22-and 23 with each of theirrnarginal edges 24 unattached to either the'paste' stream 16 or any other portion of the envelope assembly. It should be noted that one, two or more insert sheets may be provided and one or. more of these sheets may be itself an envelope without departing from the spirit of the presentinvention.

The outermost one of these insert sheets, in this case, sheet 23 as shown inFIG. 3, is connected to its adjacent panel 15 by means of spots of easily releasible adhesive 25. Such an adhesive presents a frangible tie between insert sheet 23 and panel 15 andmay suitably be a resin glue with a water base which has a very light holding property against peeling or pulling. Such a water base emulsion maybe a polyvinyl acetate resin having a low cohesive Characteristic as made by Swift & Co. Each spot of adhesive 25-is located on a tab 26 provided in the wall of back panel 15 and defined by an arcuate slit 27 partially surrounding its corresponding glue spot 25. As clearly seen in FIG. 4, each slit 27 opens toward tear margin 17 which is in the direction of extractionof insert material 19. Spots of adhesive 28, of a type similar to adhesive 25 described above, are provided for interconnecting insert sheets 22 and 23.

By grasping margin 17 and thumb notch 21 with one hand and grasping the opposite side of envelope assembly with the other hand, apull exerted in opposite directions as shown by the arrows in FIG. 5 will separate margin 17 from the outer panels along lines 18 and will simultaneously serve to extract both sheets 22, 23 from the envelope pocket. Each of the tabs 26, which are actually coplanar with back panel and are lying flat within their respective slits 27' (the tabs are not shown coplanar in FIG. 3 for clearer emphasis of the assembly construction), movement of insert sheet 23 out of the open end of the envelope causes each of the tabs 26 to be lifted out of their slits 27 and moved also in the direction of insert extraction toward the envelope open end. The free end of each tab 26 is capable of so moving since it remains connected to sheet 23. However, since glue spots 25 offer little resistance to peeling or pulling, each glue spot will be gradually separated, from sheet 23 upon continued movement of sheet 23 outwardly of the envelope. Therefore, instead of a shearing action taking place between sheet 23 and outer panel 15, tabs 26 permit a separation between sheet 23 and panel 15 as if they-were being pulled apart. The low cohesive characteristic of adhesive 25 and its-light resistance to peeling and pulling therefore permits adhesive spots 25 to be completely separated from sheet 23 without the likelihood of tearing or delaminating sheet 23 at its connected portions. Insert sheet 23 is therefore left completely intact upon its complete removal from the envelope pocket.

By reason of its connection at 28 between sheets 22 and 23, both these sheets are removedtogether in the manner as.outlined above. Upon complete removal, sheet 22 may be simply pulled away from sheet 23 thereby breaking the glue connection 28 in much the same manner as the glue connection was broken between sheet 23 and panel 15. Since the spots of adhesive 28 also have similar low cohesive qualities and low resistance to pulling and peeling, sheets 22 and 23 can be easily pulled apart without the likelihood of tearing or delaminating any connected portion of either sheet.

it should be noted that, in each of FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, a chip element 29 is associated with each of the sheets 22 and 23 althoughno portion of these sheets is connected to these'chip elements. These elements result during the die-cutting operation for the insert sheets and are simply left in place as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that a simple and inexpensive yet highly effective means of maintaining the insert material in registration within the pocket of a stuffed sealed envelope has been devised with the use of an easily releasible adhesive provided on tabs which are moved in the direction of insert extraction thereby permitting the connected insert material to be simply pulled away without tearing or delaminating any portion thereof. v 1

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. For example, other adhesives could be equally well used as long as they possess similar characteristics to those disclosed. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the

invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically' described.

What is claimed is:.

l. A manifolding assembly comprising a plurality of jacent one of said panels defining a second sheet mem- I ber so as to maintain; said insert sheet in a desired registration position within the envelope pocket, said connecting means comprising an easily releasible adhesive, and at least one tab integrally provided in oneof said sheet members, said tab being defined by a slit partially surrounding the adhesive and'lying parallel to the direction of insert material extraction in a manner whereby, during extraction of said insert material as the 3. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein said opening means comprises a removable margin defined by a line of weakening located just inside one of said securing means and overlying said insert material. =l 

1. A manifolding assembly comprising a plurality of envelopes which are series connected so as to be separable by transverse lines of weakening along the assembly, each of said envelopes comprising front and back panels, insert material within each envelope, means securing said panels together to form an envelope pocket for said insert material, said insert material including at least one insert sheet defining a first sheet member having marginal edges adjacent but unattached to said securing means, means for opening the envelope pocket, and means connecting said first sheet member to an adjacent one of said panels defining a second sheet member so as to maintain said insert sheet in a desired registration position within the envelope pocket, said connecting means comprising an easily releasible adhesive, and at least one tab integrally provided in one of said sheet members, said tab being defined by a slit partially surrounding the adhesive and lying parallel to the direction of insert material extraction in a manner whereby, during extraction of said insert material as the envelope pocket is opened, said tab is moved away from its sheet member toward the other of said sheet members, and the connection between said sheet members is gradually broken.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein said insert material further includes another insert sheet, means connecting said insert sheets together, said connecting means comprising an easily releasible adhesive.
 3. The assembly according to claim 1 wherein said opening means comprises a removable margin defined by a line of weakening located just inside one of said securing means and overlying said insert material. 